The American Discovery Trail

For 6,300 miles, from Delaware's Cape Henelopen State Park to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, the American Discovery Trail combines the best of the backcountry with jaunts through small towns and big cities.

79-year-old Mary-Triple Crown long-distance hiker-Hikes Again!The American Discovery Trail is a trail for discovery. It's different kind of trail. And a different kind of hike. And this is a different kind of book. Mary holds nothing back as she pours onto the page rich narrative of life experiences and her reflections on fear and overcoming fear. Up close and colorful, she recounts her solo-hike along the ADT from the Atlantic Ocean to Omaha, Nebraska.What makes this trail so different?The ADT is not all wilderness trail, though it does cross through some wilderness areas. There's no long string of mountain ranges to follow like on the National Scenic Trails. A walk across the middle of the USA requires meeting people, interacting with strangers to find resources: campsites (sometimes in people's yards), water (when natural sources contain possible chemical contamination), and other necessities of life.As on any long-section hike, there are challenges, new sights, and tons of beauty. One mile at a time, Mary discovers America, and shines a mellow, engaging light on its real people and its delight-for-the-senses scenery. Sometimes Mary Feels AfraidMary reflects on fear, her own and others' fears for her. She often challenges the fear-no matter whose it is.Mary may challenge you too: what you think about hiking and your assumptions and fear of other people, who may be different from you. She may even challenge you to think about faith and what that word means to you.So, come along with Mary for the hike through Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. Discover this trail across America, ponder your own thoughts on fear while reading hers, and, possibly, even consider your own faith, whatever it may be.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again. At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and she would do it alone. Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

God only knows what possessed Bill Bryson, a reluctant adventurer if ever there was one, to undertake a gruelling hike along the world's longest continuous footpath—The Appalachian Trail. The 2,000-plus-mile trail winds through 14 states, stretching along the east coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine. It snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in North America, as well as through some of its most poverty-stricken and primitive backwoods areas. With his offbeat sensibility, his eye for the absurd, and his laugh-out-loud sense of humour, Bryson recounts his confrontations with nature at its most uncompromising over his five-month journey. An instant classic, riotously funny, A Walk in the Woods will add a whole new audience to the legions of Bill Bryson fans.

Are you ready to learn something new? The 2nd volume in the Knowledge Stew Guide series continues the quest to find the most interesting facts in the world. Take a journey through topics that range from science, history, and geography to food, entertainment, and business and learn the facts behind the facts. Discover things you might not have known about the moon, or why we're taller in the morning and shorter at night. Find out about a strange amusement park, a secret vault at Mt. Rushmore, or the world's most expensive coffee. These things, plus plenty more, are waiting for your brain to take them in. Just don't forget your spoon. For even more facts, check out Volume 1 of Knowledge Stew: The Guide to the Most Interesting Facts in the World.

INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards -- 2014 GOLD Winner for Adventure & Recreation Society of American Travel Writers Eastern Chapter -- Gold Award Society of American Travel Writers Foundation -- 2015 Lowell Thomas Travel Award for Best Travel Book A hiker’s dream bucket list is embodied in this lavishly illustrated celebration of more than 50,000 miles of America’s most iconic trails. Celebrating the forty most important trails in America, this volume takes the reader through forty-nine states and eight national parks. Literally tens of millions of tourists and hikers visit these trails each year, some of which wind through the country’s most scenic natural wonders and virtually every major ecosystem in America. Each featured trail has its own section, complete with a map and photo gallery, and the reader explores what makes it one of the most magnificent hiking experiences anywhere in the world. Trail histories accompany detailed hiker-friendly descriptions that highlight the most scenic spots, with suggestions for shorter weekend and day hikes. The stunning photographs take the reader on a visual adventure conducted by Bart Smith, the first person to hike all eleven National Scenic Trails from end to end. America’s Great Hiking Trails is perfect for anyone interested in outdoor recreation and conservation.

Adventure on National Scenic Trails does not need to end when one is old. Not beginning long-distance hiking until age 60, Mary takes us with her on her trail journeys to experience encounters with the beauty of wilderness from the Eastern ranges of the Appalachian Trail, the challenges of desert, snow, granite and thick forests of the Pacific Crest Trail, and the rugged and the remote grandeur of the Continental Divide Trail.Along the way, she introduces the Trail Community. Hikers of many ages and walks of life labeled with colorful monikers called trail names, and trail angels, planned and total surprises, grace her journey. Bears, moose, deer, coyotes, turkey vultures, hawks, eagles, owls, pronghorn, and endless supplies of squirrels and chipmunks share the world through which she walked.Everyday challenges of completing seemingly endless miles, encountering new adventures, sometimes with friends and much of the time solo, brought Mary to the first pages of this book on a glorious day sighting two grizzly bears and completing long-distance hiking's Triple Crown at age 76.Throughout this inspirational journey, Mary shares the perspective of an aging adult. Challenges of failing body parts add drama and obstacles to be overcome like rocks in the trail or adapted to like the trails that wind slowly up steep mountains.Come along and experience long trails with the Old Lady on The Trail.

An ultrarunner’s fast-paced narrative into the wilds of New York’s Hudson Valley, as he attempts to set a new record for completing the Long Path, a 350-mile hiking trail that links New York City and Albany. Have you ever considered running 350 miles in nine days? Kenneth A. Posner did just that when he completed a record-setting run along New York’s Long Path, a 350-mile hiking trail that stretches from New York City to Albany. Running the Long Path’s page-turning narrative combines the thrill and challenges of Posner’s extreme endurance feat with the stunning natural beauty and deep historical significance of New York’s Hudson Valley. A one-time casual runner, Posner shares his excitement of developing into a trail-runner and eventually an ultrarunner, as well as the pursuit of a “fastest known time”—a new dimension of extreme trail running, where some of the sport’s fastest and most experienced athletes vie to set new speed records for important trails. Hikers, walkers, and runners will appreciate his detailed descriptions of planning, pacing, gear selection, nutrition, hydration, and navigation, which will help them prepare for their own adventures on the trails. Interspersed with the running adventure, Posner relates the interesting stories of the Long Path and the places it passes through, which include some of New York’s most important parks and preserves and the distinctive mountains and forests they protect. Throughout the book, he channels the voices of famous New Yorkers associated with the Long Path—Walt Whitman, John Burroughs, Theodore Roosevelt, and Raymond Torrey—who express their appreciation of the natural beauty of the region. Running the Long Path is the story of what ordinary people can accomplish with a little determination and a lot of grit. Whether you walk or run, you will find inspiration in Posner’s tale. An experienced ultrarunner, Kenneth A. Posner is the author of Stalking the Black Swan: Research and Decision Making in a World of Extreme Volatility. He lives in New York City and works as chief of strategic planning and investor relations at Capital Bank Financial Corp.